Pile-fabric loom



July 15, 1924. 1,501,483

, H.'HUGHE$ FILE FABRIC LooM' Filed June 23 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 15, 1924. 1,501,483

H. HUGHES FILE FABRIC LOOM F11 ed June 23. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1,501,483 PATENT IOFFICE.

HARRY HUGHES, OF SAXONVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

:PILE-FABnIc LOOM.

Application filed June 23, 1923. Serial No. 647,282.

To all whom 2'25 may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY HUGHns, a citizen of the'United States, and resident of Saxonville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an to the tubes or presenters that introduce the.

tufts between the warp threads.

In this type of loom the yarns that form the pile tufts are inserted by yarn tuft tubes or presenters between the warp threads, and are passed about weft threads in the body of the fabric to secure them in place and are then cut to form the pile tufts.

I-Ieretofore it has been customary to provide separate frames for inserting the suc' cessive rows of pile tufts, and each frame has a series of yarn tuft tubes or presenters, and carries a wide spool which supplies yarns to the different tubes. These frames are mounted upon suitable chains or carriers and are advanced step by step to introduce the yarns of one spool between the warp threads of the fabric to form one row of tufts across the fabric, and to introduce the yarns of the next spool to form the next row of tufts across the fabric.

This construction heretofore used permits the pile tufts to be inserted to produce any desired design or pattern in the finished fabric, but since a large number of frames each provided with a spool and a series of tubes or presenters is required to introduce the different rows of tufts, the construction is expensive to install and operate. Furthermore it involves a substantial waste of yarn as some of the strands of yarn usually give out 011 each spool before the other strands, so that it is necessary to remove the remaining strands as waste, and a large amount of work is involved in threading each yarn upon a spool through its proper tube or presenter.

The present invention contemplates a simple construction which may be employed to present the yarn tufts in place of the large number of spools and presenters heretofore employed, and the construction of the present invention is particularly well adapted for use in weaving Axminster carpetsand rugs of the plain, mottled or several tone effect such as band border rugs or carpets, and may be used for producing other types of tuftpile fabric. The present invention however isnot limited to relatively plain work, as intricate pattern effect may be producedif desired by dyeing the yarns at intervals along theirlength to produce the desiredpattern, or other expedients may be employed. 7

In carrying out thepresent invention a single row of yarn tuft tubes or presenters may be employed to introduce'one row of tufts after the other between the V warp threads, and the yarns may be led from any suitable source of supply to the tubes or presenters, so that the presenters may be moved toward and from the shed to introduce' the tufts while the source of supply may be supported in a fixed position inde pendent of the movement of thepresenters.

One important feature of the present in vention resides in novel means for supplying the tuft forming yarns to the tubes or presenters. 7

Another important feature of the inventionresides in means which is actuated by the tension of the yarns to grip the yarns so that they will be pulled forward by the movement of the tubes or presenters toward the shed.

Another important feature of the invention resides in means for engaging the individual tuft formingyarns to tension the same.

Other features of the invention and novel combination of. parts in addition to the above will be hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate one good practical form thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 isa sectional side elevation of a tuft pile fabric loom some of the parts be ing omitted, and having the present invention associated therewith I Fig. 2 is a'perspective View of the carrier for the tubes or presenters and associated parts.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the carrier of Fig. 2 with parts in section.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line H of Fig. 3. i

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of one end of the carrier.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a head which supports one end of the carrier.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the carrier in its uppermost position ready to present the tuft forming yarns between the warp threads of the shed.

Fig. 8 is a. view similar to Fig. 7 showing the tubes or presenters in their lowermost position and extending between the warp threads of the shed; and

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Figs. 7 and 8, but shows the carrier as having moved upwardly after having presented a row of tufts between the warp threads.

The novel features of the present invention may be used in connection with various types of tuft pile fabric looms, and the loom shown in the drawing is provided with a frame for supporting the operating parts, and consists of side portions 10 supported in spaced relation by cross bars 11. Supported upon suitable brackets 12 and 13 at the rear of the loom are the bearings for supporting the stuffer and binder warp beams, the former being indicated at 14 and the latter at 15, and mounted upon the bracket 16 extending from the loom frame is the beam 17 for the selvage thread. The binder warp threads at from the beam 15, pass frontwardly about the tension rolls 18 over and .under the lease rods 19 and through the harnesses 20 and 21 which may be actuated by suitable bearing mechanism as usual in this class of looms. v

The stuffer warp threads I) pass about suitable guide tension rods 2:2, and then through a stationary or fixed harness 23, the construction being such that in the formation of the sheds the binder warps are raised and lowered relativelyv to the fixed stuffer warps.

The selvage thread 0 passes from the beam 17 directly through the selvage thread hed dle 24 which is raised and lowered through mechanism consisting of a rocking lever 25 pivoted upon a fixed support at 26 and operated by a connecting rod 27 raised and lowered by a crank arm 28.

The various warp threads so far described pass forward through the usual reed 29 and are united at the fell of the woven fabric, the construction being such that upon proper manipulation of the shedding mechanism either an upper and lower or double shed, or a single shed will be formed. The reed 29 may be appropriately operated, as is common in this class of looms in order to beat up the weft threads to the fell of the cloth.

To one side of the loom is mounted a pairof weft carrying needles 31 and 32, the forward ends of which are slidably mounted in a guide block, not shown. These needles are slid into and out of the shed by mechanism notshowmto carry weft threads into the shed.

The woven fabric d after passing over the usual breast beam 33 passes around the takeup rolls 34.

The parts so far described form no part of the present invention and may be of any usual or preferred construction, and a more detailed description of these parts and the operating mechanism for the same is therefore deemed unnecessary.

As stated the present invention relates more particularly to mechanism for supply ing yarns to the tubes or presenters 'which introduce the tufts between the warp threads, and the preferred construction to this end will now be described.

Each tuft forming thread or yarn which is to be introduced in the fabric across the loom, is led to a yarn tuft tube or presenter 35. These tubes may have the usual construction and are shown as supported in spaced relation by a bar 36. This bar is connected to a substantially parallel upper bar 37 by end members 38, and these bars and end members form a frame or carrier 39. This carrier is supported above the shed for movement towards and from the same so that the presenters 35 will be moved downwardly periodically to carry the tuft forming yarns e within the presenters between the warp threads of the fabric being woven. In the construction shown the carrier 39 is supported for movement towards and from the shed by spaced heads 40 which may be supported and moved towards and from the shed by the relatively heavy arms 41, which arms may be pivoted at 42 upon uprights 43 extending upwardly from the loom frame, and rocking movement may be imparted to the arms 41 by connecting rods 44 which may be operated by cam means, not shown. It is desired to impart somewhat of a combing or rocking movement to the carrier 39 as it approaches the shed to assist the tubes or presenters 35 in carrying the yarns e downwardly between the warp threads, and in order to impart this rocking movement to the carrier 39, the heads 40 are pivotally secured to the arms 41 by pins 45 and rocking movement is imparted to the carrier 89 by a second pair of arms 46 connected to the upper portion of the heads 40 by pins 47. The arms 46 may be moved in the general direction of their length by the short crank arms 48 which rock about the shaft 49. The arms 41 and 46 are preferably supported so that they force the heads 40 yieldingly against the opposite ends of the carrier 39, and the inner face of each head preferably has spaced side flanges 50 which engage the opposite edges of the end members 38 of the carrier and form a slideway to receive these end members. Flanges 51 near the bottom of the heads 40 form a seat upon which the carrier may rest. In order to prevent the that the carrier 39 may be readily removed from the supporting heads 40, but will not be accidently lifted within these'heads, due to the lockingengagement of the springs 52 with the under face of the pins 4L7, as will be apparent from Fig. 3.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the construction by which the tuft forming yarns may be led to the tubes or presenters 35 from any appropriate source of supply. The source of supply may be supported independently of the loom and at a substantial distance from the carrier 35. In the construction shown the yarns which form the pile tufts are led from a number of spools 54 shown as supported by a creel 55, and these yarns e are led from the spools 54 between a pair of guides or rollers 56, and over a suitable number of rollers or supports 57 carried by the spaced side bars or rails 58, to a roller 59 rotatably supported by the arms 60 extending laterally from the uprights 4L3. ()ne spool 54c may be provided for each yarn e, or two or more yarns emay be wound upon each spool, and each yarn is led from a spool 54.- or other source of supply over the guides 57 and 59 to one of the tubes or presenters 35 and is threaded therethrough so that its end .will project downwardly from the lower end of its tube, as clearly shown in the drawings. Although in the drawing spools are shown as forming the source of supply for the tuft forming yarns, it is desired to point out that this is not essential, as the yarns 6 may be drawn from a beam, package or other sources of supply and led from the same over suitable guides in substantially parallel relation to the carrier 39. i

It is important that means be provided for pulling the yarns 6 forward from their source of supply, and satisfactory means to this end will now be described. In the construction shown the beam 36 at the lower portion of the carrier 39 is provided with a curved guide-plate 61, best shown in Fig. 4, and above this guide-plate and cooperating therewith is a tension bar 62. The tension bar is conveniently retained in place by lugs 63 at its opposite ends which extend into slots 64: formed in the end members 38, and these slots are of sutficient length to permit the tension bar 62 to be moved upwardly a substantial distance from the plate 61. The yarns e. are passed between the plate 61 and bar 62 before they enter the tubes or presenters 35, and the bar62 serves to guide and tension these yarns. bar 62 is provided with springs 65 which may be interposed between the upper face of the bar 62 and the lower face of the upper bar 37, and may be held in place by lugs extending from each of these bars into the ends of the springs.

It is desirable that means he provided to keep the yarns e in their proper position and in substantially parallel relation as they pass under the tension bar 62, and to this end To this end the in the construction shown the bar 62 has a 66 and in spaced relation at their lower ends by the trough-shaped bar 68. The number of these blades 67 preferably corresponds with the number of presenters 35, so that each yarn 6 passes between two blades 67 under the tension bar 62,,and then into a presenter 35.

The tension means just described serves not only to insure that the proper amount of tension will be exerted upon each yarn as the end of the same isformed into a tuft of the woven fabric, but serves also to grip the yarns to pull them forward from their source of supply as the carrier 39 is moved towards the shet. This is accomplished by the construction just described whereby when the carrier is moved towards the shed from the position in Fig. 7 to the position shown in Fig. 8 the yarns 6 extending downwardly from the roller 59 will be pulled taut and this will exert a lifting force upon the rear portion 66 of the tension bar 62, which will tilt this bar to theposition shown in Fig. 8, whereupon the forward edge 69 of the bar 62 will be forced into firm clamping engagement with the yarns. This prevents the yarns from being pulled rearwardly from between the clamping means, with the,

result that the yarns are pulled forward slightly from their source of supply each time the carrier 39 moves downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 8. The force with which the tension bar 62 engages the yarns e may be adjusted as desired by the screws which project through this barand are provided with lower rounded ends that rest upon the guide-plate 61, and these screws may be secured in the desired position of adjustment by locking nuts 76. These screws serve not onlyto hold the tension bar 62 spaced the desired distance from the guide bar 61, but serve also to form a bearing upon which the bar 62 may be rocked to its clamping position. It being understood, however, that if the bar 62 is tilted to a sub stantial degree, as shown in Fig.8, the lower ends of the-set screws 75 may be lifted out of engagement with the guide-plate 61.

As the presenters 35 move upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 8 towards the position shown in Fig. 9, the ends of the yarns projecting from the presenters are engaged and bend upwardly around the weft thread 70, see Fig. 9, in a well-known manner and are beaten up by the reed 29. After the tufts last laid have been beaten up and the carrier has moved upwardly to or approximately to .its uppermost position of Fig. 7, a pair of knives 71 and 72 are actuated by arms '73 and 7st to sever the yarns at the proper distance from the upper face of the woven fabric to form the desired length of tufts.

From the foregoing description when read in connection with the drawings it will be seen that the novel means herein disclosed for utilizing a single set of tubes or presenters for introducing the successive rows of tufts, is extremely simple in construction as compared with the large and costly equipment heretofore provided for carrying one spool and set of tubes after another to the tuft aresenting position. It will be apparent t at the present device saves the large amount of work and expense involved heretofore in preparing the large number of spools, and in drawing each yarn through its proper tube or presenter and in trimming and adjusting the yarns, and also avoids the waste which heretofore has occurred upon practically every spool due to some yarns being used up before others upon the same spool; and various other savings in equipment and cost of operation are secured by the construction of the present invention over the mechanism heretofore used.

hat is claimed is:

1. In a loom for weaving tufted fabrics, means for inserting the pile tufts, comprising in combination, a carrier for yarn tuft presenters, means for supporting a supply of yarn with the ends of the yarn extending from the source of supply to said presenters, means for moving the carrier toward and from the shed relative to the source of yarn supply. and yarn engaging means supported by the carrier and actuated by the tension placed upon the yarn as the carrier is moved towards the shed to grip the yarn and pull it from the source of supply.

2. In a loom for weaving tufted fabrics, means for inserting the pile tufts, comprising in combination, a carrier for a series of yarn tuft presenters, yarn supporting means for supporting a supply of yarn independ ent of the carrier and with the ends of the yarn extending from the source of supply to the presenters, means for moving the carrier toward and from the shed, and means upon the carrier forfirmly holding the yarn ends to cause the movement of the carrier toward the shed to pull the yarn from the source of supply,

3. In a loom for weaving tufted fabrics, means for introducing the pile tufts, comprising in combination, a carrier fora series of yarn tuft presenters, yarn supporting means for holding a supply of yarn with the ends of the yarn extending from the source of supply to the presenters, means for moving the carrier toward and from the shed, and a rocking bar mounted upon the carrier and constructed and arranged to be tilted by the tension of the yarn 1togrip and positively hold the yarn.

4. In a loom for weaving tufted fabrics, means for introducing the pile tufts between the warp threads, comprising in combination, a carrier for a series of yarn tuft tubes. means for supportinga supply of yarn-with the ends of the yarn extending from the source of supply to the tubes, and tension means mounted upon the carrier to engage the yarn and constructed to yieldingly ,retard movement of the yarn toward the tubes and to positively prevent movement of the yarn in the reverse direction.

5. In a loom for weaving tufted fabrics, means for introducing the pile tufts between the warp threads, comprising in combination, carrier for a series of yarn tuft-tubes, means for supporting a supply of yarn with the ends of the yarn extending from the source of supply to the tubes, tension means mounted upon the carrier in position to engage the yarn ends and constructed to yieldingly retard movement of the yar'nin one direction and to positively prevent movement of the yarn in the reverse direction, and a guide reed for guiding the yarn ends through the tension means 6. In a loom for weaving tufted fabrics, means for introducing the pile tufts between the warp threads, comprising in combination, a carrier for a series of yarn tuft tubes, means for supporting a supply of yarn with the ends of the yarn extending from the source of supply to the tubes, a tension bar upon the carrier and engaging the yarn ends to yieldingly retard movement of the yarn toward the tubes and having a gripping edge that grips the yarn ends and pulls them from the source of supply as the carrier is moved towards the shed, and adjustable means for varying the action of said bar.

7. In a loom for weaving tufted fabrics, means for introducing the pile tufts between the warp threads, comprising in combination a carrier for a series of yarn tuft tubes, means for supporting a supply of yarn with the ends of the yarn extending from the source of supply to the tubes, means for moving the carrier toward and from the shed relative to the source of supply, and a yarn engaging bar mounted upon the carthe bar is tilted and cause the carrier to pull.

the yarn forward as the carrier is moved towards the shed.

8. In a loom for weaving tufted fabrics, means for inserting the pile tufts, comprising in combination, a carrier for yarn tuft presenters, means for supporting a supply of yarn with the ends of the yarn extending from the source of supply to said presenters, means for moving the carrier toward and from the shed, a guide bar secured to the carrier and over which the yarn ends extend, a relatively flat tension 'bar for holding the ends against the guide bar and mounted to be rocked by the tension of the yarn, spring means for holding the tension bar in frictional engagement with the yarn ends and arranged to force the tension bar into clamping engagement with the yarn ends as the bar is tilted by the yarn tension.

9. In a loom for weaving tufted fabrics, means forinserting the pile tufts, comprising in combination, a carrier for yarn tuft presenters, means for supporting a supply of yarn with the ends of the yarn extending from the source of supply to said presenters, means for moving the carrier toward and from the shed, a guide bar secured to the carrier and over which the yarn ends pass, a relatively flat tension bar for holding the ends against the guide bar, and mounted to be rocked by the tension of the yarn into fiIII1 gripping engagement with the yarn ends.

HARRY HUGHES.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my 

